


Give Up, Give In

by teddyybearoo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Romance, Slow Burn, Whatever the opposite of slow burn is, adding tags as I go, and a mysterious past, daddy Mando, reader is female, the mask comes off eventually, you're a pilot with a heart of gold
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:33:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25419259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teddyybearoo/pseuds/teddyybearoo
Summary: When you met him a cantina on Nevarro and were offered a job as his co-pilot, you were just grateful to get the hell off of that dead end planet. He hadn't asked any questions, not that you trusted anyone enough to give answers. What you hadn't expected was to find a family of your own in the brutal bounty hunter and his strange green son...
Relationships: Din Djarin/Reader, Mando/reader, Mando/you, The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Reader, The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/You
Comments: 20
Kudos: 120





	1. A New Start

You leaned back against the torn up leather bench seat in the back of the crowded, loud cantina and closed your eyes. It had been a rough week. You were almost out of credits from your last barely-legal cargo run for some Kubaz stranger who had spent the flight trying to tell you how to fly your own ship. It was an easy job, but easy usually meant cheap, and you needed to find another gig soon.

You sighed, rubbing the small charm hanging around your neck between your fingers. Although being free was all you had thought of for 15 years of your life, you had had higher hopes for your future self back then. Had hoped that maybe by now you would be a galaxy-renowned pilot, with a couple hundred thousand credits to your name and a place to call home. Not slumming around Nevarro looking for any crap job that would buy you dinner.

Sitting up in your seat, you chugged the rest of your spotchka and stood up to leave.

The whole room grew quiet.

A tall man in shiny silver body armor and a matching helmet stood in the doorway. You stared. You knew Mandalorian beskar when you saw it.

He started towards the bar and the chatter resumed. You watched him lean against the counter and say something to the bartender. The bartender answered and then nodded towards you.

 _Shit_.

Knowing the alleged skill of a Mandalorian and the fact that you were in the farthest corner of the bar, you had nowhere to go. Not that you could if you wanted to, your feet felt glued to the floor. You hadn’t known of any bounty on your head - you were careful not to give out much information and you kept your head down while running missions. You didn’t make friends or enemies. But the man was walking straight at you and all you could do was stare. He stopped right in front of you.

“You a pilot?”, came the modulated voice through the silver helmet.

You nodded, looking up into the black slit you assumed his eyes were behind, heartbeat pounding in your ears. “Who’s asking?”

He gestured towards the table behind you and your weak knees gave out as your butt hit the seat. He took the seat across from you.

“I need a co-pilot and that man said you were the one for the job. Ever flown a Galactic gunship?”

You let out a breath you hadn’t noticed you were holding in. _So he’s not here to freeze me in carbonite and sell me to someone._ “Yeah - well, I’m a pretty fast learner.”

“Good. I can offer you thirty-five percent share of all my bounties and a place to sleep. Sound like a deal?” He reached out his hand.

You nodded your head embarrassingly fast and shook his hand. “Yes! Yes. Sorry. Yeah, that sounds great.”

“Meet me at docking bay 17 in an hour. Oh, and are you… uh, good with...kids?” he muttered the last part.

You chose not to question it. Thirty-five percent of a high level mercenary’s bounties was more than you could ask for. “Uh, sure.”

“Perfect.”

He got up and left the cantina without ordering anything. You glanced over at your small pack of things - the only items you owned - and felt a small smile creep over your face. Oh, how your luck had changed.

Signaling to the bartender for another drink, you sank back into the seat and sent a silent prayer to the maker that your life would only get better from here. 

* * *

You were standing in front of a battle-worn Empire era gunship with your bag slung over your shoulder. You hadn’t seen this particular model before, but you had piloted Galactic ships before, and you assumed they all functioned relatively similarly. You were already a few credits richer after having sold your old ship; you weren't too emotional about it, it had been kind of a piece of junk.

There wasn’t a sign of the Mandalorian around, but the ramp to the ship was down, so you assumed he was already on board. You walked up the ramp and looked around. It was actually neater than you had expected. A small cot, several doors presumably enclosing weapons vaults, and a ladder leading up to the cockpit. You were investigating the strange looking vacc tube when you heard a small sort of cooing noise. You turned to see a tiny green baby with huge eyes and even bigger ears staring up at you.

“Oh, hello! Aren’t you the cutest thing.” You put you bag down on the floor and reached down to bring the child into your arms. It reached up to touch your face, then grabbed your necklace and shoved the pendant into his mouth. You chuckled, gently pulling it out of his mouth and setting him on the floor.

“I see you’ve met my...partner,” a deep modulated voice came from above your head. You turned to see the Mandalorian looking down at you through the opening to the cockpit.

“Uh, partner?” you looked between the tiny thing staring up at you from the floor and the hulking man sitting up in the pilot’s chair.

“Yes. Partner. Why don’t you come up here so we can take off.”

You nodded, picking up the kid and climbing the ladder into the cabin. You settled into the passenger seat and scooted it up so you were next to the Mandalorian. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

He didn’t look up as he fiddled with various buttons and switches, as you heard the ramp begin to close and engines whirl to life.

“You can call me Mando,” he replied.

“Alright, Mando,” you said, and gave him your name. “And the little one is…?”

“He doesn’t have a name,” Mando answered. “I just call him kid.”

The aforementioned looked up at you from your lap and cooed. “Hm, okay.”

“Let’s begin takeoff procedure,” came the droid-like voice from under the helmet.

You turned to the control panel. It looked familiar enough. You pressed a few buttons and the ship began to lift from the landing port. Soon you broke through the atmosphere.

“Where are we headed?” you asked.

“Lah’mu. Target's some slimball hiding out from debt collectors. He’ll be easy, he’s clearly not very smart. It will likely be a quick one, you and the kid will wait for me on the ship.” he said. “Calculating jump to lightspeed. Can you shoot?”

“Uh...I mean yes, if I really had to,” you grimaced. You weren’t known for your sharp shooting skills.

“Good enough. I’ll leave you with a blaster just in case.” the ship lurched forward and the stars streaked past the viewport in a white blur. “You should get some rest. We’ll still have to navigate through the system once we exit lightspeed. You can use the cot down in the hull.” He looked over at you a moment, then turned back to the window. “Take the kid.”

You nodded, suddenly realizing how exhausted you were. Lack of funds had meant lack of a good night's sleep for you for the past few days. You pulled the baby up into your arms, just noticing that he had knocked out at some point. You climbed down the ladder and gently placed him in white sphere you assumed was his cradle. You pulled off your tight pants and shuffled through your bag to find some sleep shorts.

Crawling into the small cot built into the wall, you realized how quickly your life had changed in just one day. Hopefully the job would work out well for you, and you would be able to save up to live how you had always dreamed of. Sleep quickly overcame you and you snuggled into the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my first multi chapter writing ever so bear with me :) short first chapter as i'm still trying to decide where i want this story to go, but i promise a happy ending. will try to update once a week. also sorry for any technical inaccuracies, i just be making shit up sometimes


	2. A Face from the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bounty Mando picks up on Lah'mu turns out to be someone you had hoped never to see again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second chapter already! i've been super bored and had sudden inspiration so here this is earlier than i thought

_ “You can’t run from me, little girl. I’ll always find you. You would be dead without me. You would be nothing.” _

You awoke with a start, dazed for a moment until you remembered where you were. Sitting up in the small cot and swinging your legs over the side, you reminded yourself it was just a dream. 

You had gone this long without him or any of his cronies finding you. No one knew of your past and you intended to keep it that way. You couldn’t fully trust anyone, lest they betray you to that dirtball.  _ Moska.  _ He would likely never stop haunting you in your dreams.

A small noise pulled you from your thoughts and you looked over to see two big brown eyes staring back at you. You could get used to waking up next to that cute little face. “Well hello, you little womprat,” you smiled at him, pulling him from his...bassinet? Container? Whatever it was. He reached for your necklace again and you let him stick it back in his mouth. 

You could tell the ship was no longer hurtling through hyperspace and you wondered where exactly you were.

“We’re landing," came your answer from the cockpit above you. "There’s food in the storage crate next to the bed. I’ll be heading out and should be back before nightfall.” 

You heard the thrusters wind down and felt the whole ship shake as it landed. You hurriedly changed out of your shorts into cargo pants and a clean tunic. Mando’s boots clunked down the ladder as you laced up your own.

“If I’m not back by the morning, I want you to fly to Sorgan and find Omera. The coordinates are already set. She’ll help you.” He turned from you to open a storage locker full of weapons. He handed you a small blaster and you felt a pit form in your stomach.

“I thought you said this would be an easy one,” you swallowed as he fastened some sort of explosive to his wrist.

“It will be. Just in case. The kid has to be protected.” He finished strapping another blaster to his thigh and pulled a long sniper rifle over his shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”

He patted the kid’s head and nodded once at you, then pressed the button to lower the ramp. He paused, like he was about to say something, then changed his mind and turned towards the ramp. You watched him descend, and then the boosters at the bottom of his jetpack burst to life and he took off. As the door closed, you caught a sight of black sand and waves crashing in the distance. You tucked the blaster into the back of your pants and turned to the kid, who was staring at you with your necklace still in his mouth. “Well, looks like it's just me and you. You hungry?” 

You gently pulled the pendant from his drooly mouth and placed him on the floor. Pulling open the crate and rummaging through it, you found some strange looking dried fruits and meats, and a box of ration packets. You picked a couple packets out and opened them, taking a bite of veg-meat and handing a chunk of it to the baby. He took it and swallowed the whole thing in one bite without chewing. 

“Slow down there, bud. You don’t want to choke,” you scolded. He just giggled and held out his hands for another bite. You gave him a whole hunk of polystarch and sat down against the cargo box. “So what is there to do around here?”

* * *

It had only been a few hours since the Mandolorian left and so far you had checked and double-checked all the routine maintenance and takeoff procedures, sweeped the floor of the hull, held the baby over the vacc tube for at least thirty minutes (he had stared right into your soul the whole time - this was something you would need to work on with him), and unpacked your clothes and belongings into a small empty drawer under the cot. 

Now you sat in the pilot’s chair with the kid back in your lap, looking out across the landscape through the viewport. It appeared you had landed on a beach, covered in dark sand, against a backdrop of green mountains. Light rain pattered against the window as you leaned your head back in the chair. According to the datapad on the dashboard it was late afternoon. 

The baby was preoccupied playing with a little silver ball, so you let your eyes drift closed. The nap you had earlier hadn’t been enough to catch you up on a week's worth of sleepless nights and you were weary. 

You woke with a start to a loud bang from outside the ship that had you jumping up from your seat and scrambling down the ladder with one hand, holding the kid close to you with the other. You placed him gently in an open storage locker, and fiddled with the control pad next to it until its doors shut. Then you grabbed your blaster from your belt and crouched behind the box of rations, aiming for the ramp. 

You braced yourself as it opened and thudded on impact with the ground. Footsteps started up the ramp, and then...your stomach dropped. You immediately recognized the horribly wrinkled, smirking face of a Skrilling you had hoped to never see again.

“Ah, so this is where you have been hiding,” Onhar sneered at you as you raised your blaster higher towards his ugly mug. “Moska will be so pleased I have found you. You know you are one of his favorites.”

Your blood ran cold. “Fuck you. I’ll never go back to him alive.”

“Well I suppose he wouldn’t mind if I brought you back dead.” 

He was starting towards you when you noticed the cuffs holding his giant three-fingered hands together in front of him. You heard a pop and suddenly he seized up and fell face-down on the floor. Behind him stood Mando, holding out the pointed end of what looked like a small blurrg prod. Your shoulders slumped in relief and you dropped the blaster.

“You know him?” Mando huffed with effort as he pulled the unconscious Skrilling up by his arms and dragged him towards the carbonite freezing chamber.

“Um, unfortunately, yes,” you answered, looking down at the floor. “He, uh, he lived in the same village as me growing up. He was always an asshole.” That was the most unbelievable lie you had ever told, and you were pretty sure he had caught on to most of what Onhar had said to you. But the Mandolorian just looked over at you incredulously for a moment (or at least you assumed so without seeing his face), and then pushed the button to finish the freezing process. 

You realized you were still crouched on the ground, so you stood up and brushed off your pants, then turned around and opened the doors to the compartment and picked up the little green ball sitting inside. 

Mando stepped around you to open the weapons vault and begin unloading his gear. “This system is relatively safe, so we’ll stay in orbit for the night, and then head to Mos Eisley tomorrow to turn in that dirtbag and grab supplies.”

Mos Eisley. You were sure to run into an unfortunate face in that dump.  _ I’ll be safe as long as I stay with Mando. He’ll protect me, right? I mean, he trusts me with his ship and the life of his kid, so he must be willing to keep me alive.  _ Almost like he could sense your apprehension, he spoke over his shoulder, “You can stay on the ship. I have an associate who will remain with you.”

You felt a bit of relief as you looked down at the baby in your arms. Looking out the still-open ramp, you noticed it was dark outside. You must have slept longer than you thought. You pushed the controls to close the hatch and then followed Mando up into the cockpit, placing the child on top of the storage boxes behind the passenger seat. The cockpit was dead silent for the next ten minutes or so, and you didn't mind the quiet. Soon the Razor Crest was breaching into open space, and then shuddered to a halt near Lah’mu’s moon. 

You climbed back down the ladder and set the child into his bed. He wasn’t tired in the least, but he seemed content sitting and playing with his ball, so you dimmed the lights in the hull and grabbed a change of clothes, locating the fresher and shutting the door behind you. You could hear Mando clunking around outside as you stripped and turned the water on.

You hated to admit that it had been a while since you had had a real shower. Of course you freshened up when you could in cantina bathrooms or on the ships of smugglers who hired you. But you had never felt comfortable taking a shower around them, you didn’t trust them enough. For some strange reason, you felt safe enough on the Razor Crest to finally step under the spray and let the dirt and grime run off you and down the drain.

Washing yourself quickly and drying off, you stepped into soft cotton pants and an old shirt. When you opened the door, Mando was nowhere to be seen, presumably back up in his pilot's chair. As you crawled under the covers, you wondered if the bounty hunter would sleep up in the cockpit. You felt a pang of guilt, taking up his bed, but he had offered it to you so that probably meant he had other arrangements. 

You shut your eyes and relaxed against the pillow, but sleep wasn’t coming easily. Still wary from your encounter with Onhar earlier, you wondered how many others were out there, looking to drag you back to the clutches of Moska. It was an unsettling thought.

You didn’t realize how long you had been lying awake, but you suddenly heard movement as Mando descended the ladder. You quickly shut your eyes. He must have believed you were asleep, because you heard him shut the cover of the baby’s bed, and then the thunk of pieces of metal armor hitting the floor. Then the door to the fresher opened and shut, and the water turned on.

There was little you knew about the Mandalorians, but one thing you did know was that they had a thing about keeping their faces hidden. You didn’t quite understand the specifics, but you were pretty sure they weren’t supposed to take the mask off in front of others, ever. But you assumed they didn’t bathe in their helmets. 

You wondered what he looked like under there. If he had dimples, if his eyes were blue or brown or green. The mystique surrounding his face, you realized, was actually...attractive? You shook your head. What were you thinking? He could be all burned up under there, or green, or old! But then there was that silky baritone voice he had. He couldn’t be too bad looking. Not that any of this mattered. This was a job, you were working for this man. There wouldn’t be room for any stupid crushes.

The water turned off, and you heard some shuffling. You shut your eyes tight in the dark. Not that you would be able to see anything when he came out; there were no windows in the belly of the ship and all the lights were off except the one in the refresher.

The door opened and you heard Mando step out. 

You were pretty sure you could hear unmodulated breathing - he hadn’t put his helmet back on. You heard him pause for a moment, then climb the ladder to the cabin and shut the hatch. You sighed and rolled onto your back, staring up at the ceiling.

_ Keep it professional. Don’t let him in, make the money you need, and move on,  _ you told yourself later that night.  _ I can do this _ .

You were sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! it means so much to me :) also get ready for some good old exposition in the next chapter...and a reminder that this will be a slowwwww burn...gotta love the angst


	3. Nightblossom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You meet Peli Motto on Mos Eisley, and learn a bit more about Mando.

_ Kandria knew she was dying. She could feel it. Her daughter’s grip on her hand tightened. She wished she could have had more than twelve short years by her side. _

_ “Mommy? I’m scared.” she could see the tears forming in her eyes. _

_ “I know you are. But you will be safe. Moska has promised to take you in as his own and protect you.” She glanced behind her daughter at the hulk of a man waiting in the shadowy corner of the room. He nodded once. She turned back to face the girl, who was shaking, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. _

_ “I want you to have something, love. So you will always have me close.” Kandria reached up behind her neck, unclasping the chain around it. She held out the necklace with trembling hands. Hanging from the gold chain was a small flower. “It's a nightblossom. They grow out of the rocks and dirt, and bloom a beautiful red. Let it remind you to be strong, my darling.” _

_ The girl was openly sobbing now as she grasped the pendant and fastened it around her own neck. “I love you.” _

_ Kandria smiled. “I love you more. I know you will grow to do brave and wonderful things.” She started to cough into the edge of her sheet. When she pulled away, it was coated in a thin layer of crimson.  _

_ “Let’s go,” came the gruff voice from the dark. Moska stepped out into the room and started to pull the girl towards the door. _

_ “Be strong, my love!” Kandria called. Her daughter was crying even harder now, struggling against Moska's hold on her arm. _

_ The room grew darker and darker, and then a brilliant flash of light, and all Kandria felt was warmth. She felt peace. _

_ If only she had known what the future held for her little girl. _

* * *

“Head for docking bay three-five.”

You pulled back the shifter to open the doors at the bottom of the ship that held the stabilizers, landing - relatively gracefully, you might add - in the dirt. Mando was still fiddling around with one of the data screens so you stood up and climbed down the ladder. 

The baby was sitting up in his bed, staring as usual. You picked him up and placed him on the floor.

“You want a snack?” You flipped open the crate and grabbed a whole stick of dried meat, handing it to him.  _ That might keep him occupied for a little while. _

As soon as the ramp opened you were greeted by three small droids, who immediately went to work opening wire hatches and plugging in diagnostic screens. They were followed by a short curly-haired woman who smiled warmly up at you and extended her hand.

“Hello there! I’m Peli. This is my hanger, these are my droids.” You introduced yourself and shook her hand. “Ah, I was wondering if Mando would ever hire a co-pilot. Now, where is my little green friend?” 

She walked past you into the back of the hull, where the baby was messing with one of the droid’s antennas, the meat already long gone. He smiled a toothy grin up at her as she lifted him into her arms. “Ah, there you are! You miss me? I missed you! It’s been awful boring around here.”

Mando dropped down from the bottom rung of the ladder and rummaged through a cabinet. He pulled out a small bag and handed it to Peli. “A thousand Imperial credits. Shouldn’t need any repairs but I threw in a little extra for the hangar. And-”

“No droids, yeah, yeah” Peli looked over at the droid reviewing a datapad, who shook his head as confirmation that there was indeed no work to be done on the ship. She signaled towards the ramp and all three droids scuttled back out into the hangar.

“These two will remain here until I return. If you could keep an eye out for them it would be much appreciated. I’ll throw in another thousand credits.” 

Peli smiled. “Don’t you worry about it, I could use a little human interaction. One gets a bit tired of listening to binary all day.” She patted your hand. “Let’s get you two a nice breakfast.”

You glanced back at Mando, who nodded. You followed Peli down the ramp into her office. You watched Mando leave the hangar, then turned to Peli, who was bouncing the baby in her arms and digging through a refrigerator, pulling out a container of gartro eggs and some jerba cheese, as well as a bowl of fruits. 

You took a seat at the small table. “So, what can you tell me about Mando?”

* * *

A few hours later, you were lounging with Peli and the baby at her dining table, stomachs full of gartro omelets and kavasa fruits. From what she had told you so far about her experiences with the Mandolorian, he was a fierce warrior with an extreme soft spot for the kid. She had just finished telling you about the first time she met him and your mouth hung open in disbelief.

“He was holding a gun at you two? I’d met Toro once on Navarro. He was an idiot, but I wouldn’t have expected that from him! And Mando shot him?” 

Peli nodded solemnly. “And thank goodness for it. We have enough of that self-centered type on this planet. But yes, I think he would really do anything for the baby. He would never admit it, but he loves him.”

You smiled. You had only been working with Mando for two days, but you could tell his bond with the kid was strong, and he was very protective over him.

Said baby was falling asleep in Pali’s arms. She lowered her voice so as not to wake him and leaned a bit forward. “So, what’s your story? You told me you were from Navarro, and that’s where Mando picked you up, but what before? Who taught you to fly?”

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat. Although a touchy subject, it seemed like Peli was the kind of person you could trust. 

“I was actually born on Naboo, but after my mother died when I was twelve I lived on Batuu, in a little town called Galma. Total junk heap of a place. A man took me in, and he trained me along with a bunch of other orphans to help run his...criminal empire.” Your stomach turned at the thought of Moska, and all your brothers and sisters you had left when you escaped. You hoped Peli didn’t notice how your face fell. “They realized pretty quickly how shit I was in combat, but I learned how to pilot and fell in love with it, I guess. It was a kind of escape; the man would send me on smuggling missions from the time I turned fifteen, and I just felt….free, when I was flying. And it's the only thing I’ve ever really been good at, so I figured I could make a profit off of it when I left Batuu. Business wasn’t always booming though. So I’m lucky for the opportunity Mando has given me.”

You looked up from your sob story to see the baby passed out and Peli listening intently. “Mando doesn’t know any of this yet, though.” 

She nodded quickly. “Oh, don’t you worry, everything you tell me stays here in this room.” You smiled graciously at her. Since your mother, you hadn’t had another woman to confide in, and you had decided Peli would work just fine. She had accepted you immediately and she didn’t judge.

“Why don’t I put this little one down and then I’ll show you what I know about keeping up repairs on this ship?” You nodded, rising from your chair to follow her out the door.

* * *

By the time Mando returned, you and Peli were up in the cockpit - she had just finished showing you how to rewire each datapad.

“I see you two have been getting on nicely,” he remarked from the bottom of the ladder. You heard a clunk as he set down whatever he had been out getting.

“Be quiet, you’ll wake the baby!” Peli scolded. Mando just sighed, and then called your name. 

“We’re going to head out now, I got everything we need.” He redirected his attention to Peli as she climbed down the ladder. “Thank you for everything.” 

She smiled warmly at him. “You three are welcome any time.” She nodded up at you and waved, and then called to her droids as she left the ship.

“The kid is asleep, again,” you turned back to the viewport as Mando sat down in the pilot’s chair. “Where to now?”

“Batuu.” You felt your stomach drop but tried to keep your composure. You had hoped Mando wouldn’t have to make a trip there for at least a few months. “Another bounty. Might take a little longer so you and the kid will have to come with once we land. After we’ll head back to Nevarro and you will be paid. Then you can take the week off until I am assigned another beacon.”

You swallowed. “Alright.” Closing your eyes, you tried to give yourself a little pep talk.  _ You knew the risks that come with associating with a bounty hunter. Pull yourself together. _

When you opened your eyes, Mando was looking at you. “Ready to go?” You nodded, and he pulled the thruster, launching the Razor Crest into the air.

He was bound to learn of your past at some point. It being so early on hadn’t been in your plans, but so be it. You punched in the coordinates for the Batuu system into the datapad as you calculated the jump to lightspeed. 

As the stars streaked past your eyes at sonic speed, you clutched the pendant around your neck. Your mother’s words rang in your head.  _ I know you will grow to do brave and wonderful things.  _

Later that evening, as you kneeled in the dirt with a blaster digging into the back of your head, you decided maybe this was the perfect time to prove her right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sort of a short update, but smut is coming in two more chapters kids, don't worry! in the meantime, some backstory on dear reader and a cliffhanger :) thanks for reading!!


	4. The Outpost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Mando arrive at Black Spire Outpost to camp out before he apprehends his latest bounty, but it goes horribly wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some angst, some fluff (sort of)

Your stomach was turning with anxiety as you landed just outside Black Spire Outpost on Batuu. The voice in the back of your mind was screaming at you to tell Mando to turn the ship back around and give up this bounty, but you pushed it down. This was no time to be paranoid.

“Grab the brown bag in the hull,” Mando instructed. “We’ll hike a ways into the forest and camp out there. It’s not safe for us to sleep on the ship, locals will have noticed us landing and will be curious.”

You climbed down the ladder and shut the lid on the baby’s cradle, and looked around for said brown bag. It was tucked in the space behind a couple cargo crates. You rifled through it quickly - it contained what appeared to be a small tent, some food, a first aid kit, and a couple sleeping bags. _Interesting,_ you mused to yourself, _why does he have two sleeping bags if it's usually just him…?_

“I got an extra bag for you to sleep in when we were on Mos Eisley,” came your answer as Mando threw open the weapons vault and began arming himself. “I usually camp out when I take a job on Batuu.”

He slung his rifle over his shoulder and shut the vault door, then punched the control to open the ship. You followed him and the floating cradle behind him down the ramp and into a small clearing in the dense Batuu forest. Breathing in a gulp of oxidized air, you tried to relax your buzzing nerves as you set out into the trees.

The suns were nearly set when Mando stopped and looked around. “We’ll set up here.” He propped his rifle up against a tree and held his hand out for the bag you were carrying. He dug through it and pulled out the rations and the tent. “I’ll set this up while you and the kid eat something.”

He pressed the button on his wrist to open the cradle and those huge brown eyes peeked out at you. You smiled and lifted him up out of his bed, picking up the rations as you made your way over to a large rock and settled down. You opened the packets and handed a chunk of bread to the baby, shoving some veg-meat into your mouth.

Mando turned his head back towards you as he finished setting up the tent. “I’ll make sure you get a proper meal when we get back to Nevarro. You must be tired of ration packs.”

You chuckled softly to yourself. “I’m thankful for the three steady meals a day I’ve had since you hired me, it doesn’t really matter to me where it comes from.” 

As you took another bite of your dinner, you noticed that while Mando may have thought to buy you a sleeping bag, he hadn’t bothered to upgrade to a larger tent. 

“Um, are we both supposed to fit in there? Together?” 

Mando stood up from where he had been kneeling in front of the tent. “Well, I’ll be keeping watch most of the night, so no.”

You lowered your eyes back down to the food in your hands. “Oh, okay.”

He made his way over to you and set up a small lantern in the space between you, lighting it.

The suns had set and you could see the moonlight filtering through the trees. It was getting late and the baby’s eyes were drooping. You finished the last bit of polystarch and crumpled the wrappers from your meals. Mando was sitting across from you, disassembling and cleaning a blaster by the light of the lantern.

“I’m going to put him to bed and go to sleep. I can take watch whenever.” You lifted the baby out of the cradle and carried him with you as you stepped into the tent. Despite what Mando had told you, there were two sleeping bags set up inside.

You shook your head and tucked the baby under the covers, then climbed under next to him. Through the small crack in the zipper you watched Mando with his back towards you. He lifted the bottom of his helmet up and took a bite of bread. You found your mind wandering again to his face. _How could you be attracted to him when you had never seen his face?_ But you couldn’t help yourself from being intrigued by his overall mystique. 

You groaned and rolled over, facing the baby, who was already fast asleep. You thought back to your childhood, and how you would never wish it on another. Watching him sleep peacefully, you decided you would spend as much time as you could trying to make his life a happy and safe one. You would do whatever you had to to protect him. You felt content in this plan as you drifted off to sleep.

* * *

You awoke with a start at the sound of shouting. You had just enough time to shove the baby under the blanket before the door of the tent was ripped open and you were pulled out by the front of your shirt.

Falling forward onto your hands, you barely had time to focus your eyes as your face was pulled upwards by your hair. You gasped at the sharp pain and looked into bloodshot eyes under a helmet.

“It’s her!” your captors rancid breath hit your face as he yelled to his accomplices. “It’s the one who escaped.” Yellow teeth bared into a snarl as he shoved you back so you were kneeling in the dirt. You felt a blaster being pushed into your back. “Search the camp for anything valuable, then we’ll take them back to Moska!”

As you were finally able to look around, you realized you were in the company of at least fifteen of Moska’s thugs, all with their faces covered. In front of you, Mando was on his knees, stripped of his weapons with a blaster aimed at the back of his head. Somehow the group had overpowered him.

“Look at this!” you heard a shout from behind you. Your stomach dropped as you realized they had found the baby. “I bet Moska will like this one. Let’s go.”

You were roughly yanked to your feet and pushed forward. Mando’s hands were cuffed behind his back. With a small click, a pair were fastened around your own wrists.

You were led to a small, beat up smuggler’s ship in a clearing and forced up the ramp. Mando was pushed down to sit against the wall, and you were shoved down to sit next to him. Looking around, you watched as one of the men set down all of Mando’s weapons, and another put the baby in a cage. You swore you could feel the anger rolling off of Mando. The ramp to the ship closed and two of the men went to the cockpit, while the rest sat on crates and boxes. 

One of the men pulled off his helmet and sneered at you. His ugly face you recognized immediately - Grego, Onhar’s brother. “So this is the bounty hunter who caught my brother. And we took him so easily.” The rest of the men laughed. “The Mandolorian, not so tough as the stories say.”

Mando was quiet. Grego continued, “You have taken many of Moska’s men. He will be happy we have brought you to him. I wonder what he will do with you.”

The ship shuddered as it took off. You already knew where you were headed. Moska had his headquarters in Galma, underground, the entrance disguised as a relics shop. You closed your eyes, trying not to vomit. You felt a squeeze on your fingers and looked down to see Mando reaching out to reassure you with his hands still bound together. 

You realized what he was trying to tell you; he would get you out. Trust him.

You blew a piece of hair out of your face and let your head fall back against the wall. You heard movement, and then Grego was crouched right in front of you. “Don’t think you’ll be getting out of this one, girl. You won’t be seeing the light of day for a long time.”

You just stared at him indignantly. 

“Hmm, I remember you as being quite the chatterbox back in the day. Bet you’ll be screaming in no time,” he smirked. Your eye twitched. If you did manage to escape again, you wouldn’t be leaving this one alive. You didn’t say anything, knowing if you opened your mouth, the bile rising in your throat would make an appearance.

Ten minutes later, the ship made a bumpy landing. Two of the men pulled you up, one of either side, and walked you down the ramp and into the storefront. You were pulled through the shelves of crap to the back, where a bookshelf opened to a dingy elevator. All 15 of the men, you, Mando, and the weapons they had taken from him, as well as the baby, looking terrified in the little cage, were crowded into the lift. 

It descended for a few seconds, and then the door opened to a familiar dark hallway, which broke off into two more hallways on either side. You saw one of the men put the baby in his cage on top of a pile of crates near the elevator. You were led down past several doors, which you knew led to even deeper parts of Moska’s base, to the double doors on the end, which led to his office. When this had been your home, the only time you were allowed in his office was when you were in big trouble, which for you had been often.

The doors opened and you and Mando were once again thrown forward onto your knees in front of a huge, messy desk. Behind it sat the man you hated most in the galaxy.

Moska laughed a deep, blood-curdling laugh. Hearing him say your name made you feel even more sick. “I have been looking for you. But you must know that already, given the lengths you’ve gone to to stay anonymous.”

He stood up from his chair and came around his desk, stopping right in front of you. You stared him right in the eyes. He was just as grimy as you remembered; gut protruding from his front, greasy hair falling in his face, scar across his bearded face. He bent down, smirking at you, and slapped you square on the cheek, hard. You fell off the balls of your feet to the side, not able to catch yourself with your hands tied behind you. 

“But I will deal with you later. Jaa, Vigos, take her outside and watch her. I need to have a little chat with our bounty hunter friend. He has turned in many of my associates.”

You were lifted off the floor roughly, and dragged out the office doors. One of the men, a short Aqualish, shoved you roughly to the floor, your back hitting the wall. “Try anything and we’ll shoot.”

They moved away from you to the opposite wall and turned towards each other, but you couldn’t hear what they were saying. You pulled your knees as close to your chest as possible, your hands still tied behind your back. You could hear Moska’s muffled, angry voice from behind the door. Sitting there on the floor, in the hallway that was so terribly familiar, you had the sudden realization that you had failed.

You had failed at getting away. You had failed at starting a new life. Even for the short eight months you had been working for yourself, the jobs you took were never honest. Running stolen goods or weapons, their final destinations unknown to you. And now you were right back where you had started. You doubted Mando would be able to get you all out.

The tears were running down your face before you could stop them. You lowered your head to your knees, not wanting the two thugs charged with guarding you to see your moment of weakness. You took a slow breath in, trying to calm yourself.

Your head shot back up at the sound of a loud bang from the inside Moska’s office, and then what sounded like blaster fire and a lot of screaming. Jaa and Vigos jumped to attention and ran to the double doors, but they were blown open before they could reach them. They were immediately taken out with two blaster shots from inside the office. You craned your neck, trying to see what was going on as the shots continued. 

A few moments later, Mando stepped out of the office, carefully avoiding the two bodies blocking the doorway. His hands were free, and he was brandishing his sniper, his blaster back in its holster. You felt your mouth drop open. “How…?”

He propped his rifle against the wall and pulled a strange looking device from his pocket. “I’ll explain back on the ship, we gotta find the kid and get out of here. Moska and a couple of his cronies got away through a side door but he’ll have called backup.” The device buzzed to live and you recognized it as a vibroblade. He helped you to your feet and turned you away from him, quickly cutting through the restraints on your wrists. Then he set off down the hall and you followed, taking a quick look behind you as you rubbed your sore wrists.

The office was a disaster. You counted at least ten of Moska’s men dead, one missing his head. There were papers and broken furniture scattered across the room, and blood everywhere. 

Turning back to Mando, you noticed he appeared to be limping, but otherwise unharmed. 

“I think he’s at the end of the hall. I saw one of the men just leave him there with some cargo,” you recalled.

Mando let out a low chuckle. “They underestimate him.”

And indeed they had. You found him sitting in front of the crates, free from his cage. The man who had put him there lay motionless on the ground nearby. The baby was chewing on something that looked like candy. 

You were in disbelief. “You both have some explaining to do.” 

The baby just smiled, reaching his grubby little hands up to you. You picked him up and turned to Mando. “I know a way out. We can’t take the elevator, it’s handprint protected and we’ll set off the alar-” 

Before you could finish your sentence the air was filling with a piercing wail and the hall turned red with warning lights.

“Well, shit. The stairs are that way but by the time we get up there there’ll be guards.”

Mando followed where you were pointing. “That’s no problem, just stay behind me.”

You obeyed, carrying the baby and running after him to the door at the end of the hall. It opened as you approached, revealing the spiral staircase you had used in your teen years to sneak out with your adoptive siblings to the cantina. You raced up the winding steps behind Mando. As soon as you reached the exit hatch at the top, you were met with three armed men. Mando took them out quickly and you both raced to the treeline.

Safe in the cover of the forest, you stopped to catch your breath and looked back at the chaos your escape had caused. The last time you had been much quieter. Now, there were men running around the storefront, shouting orders and setting off on speeder bikes.

You felt a hand on your arm. “Let’s go.” You turned and nodded at Mando, following him deeper into the forest.

* * *

After what seemed like an hour of walking, you reached the campsite. The baby had fallen back asleep in your arms. The tent was destroyed, and any other supplies, including the rest of the food, had been taken. All that was left was the baby’s cradle, which you set him down in. Seeing as there was nothing else there to salvage, the three of you continued back to the clearing where you had left the ship, the cradle floating silently behind you. Thankfully, the Razor Crest appeared to have remained untouched. 

“They probably saw us land and knew we wouldn’t stay on the ship. I’m surprised they left it alone.” Mando mused as the ramp lowered. You didn’t answer - the intensity of the past hour had just hit you like a brick.

You were silent as you started up the ramp, closing the lid of the baby’s bed and pushing it to the corner. Mando seemed to pick up on your energy, as he shut the ramp and slowly climbed the ladder to the cockpit. You collapsed onto your knees on the floor, staring distantly at the opposite wall. You felt the ship grumble as it took off.

A couple minutes later, you heard boots descend the ladder. You looked up, suddenly remembering how Mando had been limping earlier. “Are you injured?”

He sighed heavily as he sat down on a crate. “It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

You jumped to your feet, buzzing with newfound alertness. You made your way to the cabinet next to the cot, pulling out a bandage kit and an emergency cauterizer. 

Settling down on the crate next to him, you held out your hand. “May I? It’s the least I can do, you just saved my life.”

He was silent for a moment, and you felt a sudden anxiety, fearing that you had overstepped. After all, you had barely known him a week. But then he nodded once, ripping at the tear in his pants where the wound was still dripping blood. It wasn’t deep enough to reach bone, but you could see a few layers of muscle exposed down the top of his right thigh.

You switched on the cauterizer. “I’m sorry, this is going to hurt.” He just grunted in response.

You started at the top of his thigh, your arm brushing his stomach. Only then did you notice his armor was off, and he was only wearing his underclothes and helmet. For some reason, the lack of a layer of metal between you made blood rush to your cheeks. You slowly dragged the device down, trying to ignore the smell of burnt flesh as you did. You had done this before, but doing it to someone else was always worse than using it on yourself. Meanwhile, Mando seemed completely unfazed.

Once you reached the end of the wound, you switched off the cauterizer and grabbed a bottle of bacta spray out of the kit. You quickly sprayed down the wound, but even bacta likely wouldn’t be enough to prevent it from leaving a scar. As you reached for the gauze wrap, he stopped you with a hand around your wrist.

“You go ahead and get some rest. I can finish up.” You just nodded, surprised at the contact. He held your arm a moment longer, and then rose from the crate, grabbing the gauze and heading for the refresher.

As soon as the door shut, you put away the medical supplies and dug through your drawer for a pair of comfortable pants. Peeling off your dirty trousers and slipping on some sweatpants, your adrenaline rush from before began to wear off, and you were back in a state of numbness. You shut off all the lights except the one above the cot and sat on the bed. 

You heard the refresher door open but didn’t look up. And then… you thought you might be imagining things as you felt strong hands pull you down so you were lying on the bed, facing the wall. Then, a dip in the mattress behind you. And….then Mando started rubbing your back, comforting you.

You hear him whisper through the helmet. “Is this okay? You seem like you shouldn’t be alone.”

You just nodded, closing your eyes and he continued stroking your back, up and down. You were too exhausted, but you imagined if you had the energy, your face would be bright red right now.

You couldn’t help replaying the events of the night over and over as you lay there. You wondered why Mando had seemed so calm, why he hadn’t questioned you about Moska, even though it was your fault the three of you had even been ambushed. He also hadn’t yet explained how he got out of Moska’s office.

As you started to drift off, you felt Mando’s hand leave your back. The light above you switched off, and the weight left the edge of the mattress.

You were too busy thinking about the how’s and the why’s to even question his sudden gentleness with you.

Perhaps you would bring it up in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! I will try to continue weekly updates but may have to go to every other week once the fall semester starts... college, man :( also i didn't proofread this at all, pls lmk if there are any glaring mistakes


	5. Home

You didn’t bring it up the next morning.

In fact, it had been at least a month since Moska’s thugs had captured you on Batuu, and you hadn’t spoken a word about it to Mando. Every night you slept alone in the cot, and you assumed he slept in the pilot’s chair, if he even did sleep. You had to vent to someone though, letting it all out onto Peli the moment Mando was out of sight when you made a pit stop on Tatooine two weeks ago. She had gasped audibly as you relayed your plight in Galma, and listened patiently while you rambled on about your confusion at Mando’s behavior.

“Now that’s something I wouldn’t have seen coming,” she remarked when you mentioned how he had rubbed your back after you tended to his injury. “He’s the strong and silent type, not one to outwardly show affection.” 

_ Affection.  _ That word had hit you right in the gut. It wasn’t something you had felt from another person in a long time. You had kept that nagging feeling of loneliness buried deep down ever since your mother died. Keeping up a front of strength had been your only way to survive. Until now.

You had only known Mando and the baby for a month and a half. You supposed you didn’t even know the man’s real name. But the way the baby’s face lit up every time he saw you, the way Mando had taken to picking up sweet-sand cookies whenever he could find them because you had once mentioned how much you craved them, had made you realize that maybe you had found something you hadn't had for a long while. A home. A family.

This revelation was one you kept to yourself. What Peli had said about Mando was right, and you didn’t want to make things awkward. 

But you needed answers.

Clearly Moska knew about Mando, but hadn’t dealt with him face to face before. If he had, he would’ve taken better precautions to keep him from escaping. And in that case, Mando must have known who Moska was, and in turn who you were. Moska hadn’t cheaped out on the bounty on your head since your escape. You were too valuable to him; you knew the inner workings of his empire, and your skill set was useful to him. Plus, he seemed to have some kind of personal reason for wanting you returned to him. Maybe, in his own deranged, unloving way, saw you as a daughter. Or more likely just property that he didn’t appreciate being stolen from him.

Either way, Mando couldn’t have been oblivious to your predicament. 

And then there was that night. How he had let you fix up his wound. You had seen his bare skin for the first time. And how he had comforted you afterwards, sensing your anxiety. When you remembered that the next morning, sitting wordlessly next to him in the cockpit, your stomach flipped and your face grew hot. You hoped he hadn’t noticed, and you just hadn’t found a good time to mention any of it.

The perfect opportunity came weeks later. This beacon had led you to Eriadu, in the Outer Rim. You were wary of staying on the ground longer than necessary, so Mando agreed to wait just outside the atmosphere until he could gather some more information. Currently, the two of you were sitting in the hull in complete silence, him sitting on a crate cleaning his rifle, the baby asleep in his cradle, and you on the floor trying to scrub some of the caked mud off the bottom of your boots. 

“I’ll buy you a new pair on Navarro.” You raised your head at the sudden breach of quiet. Mando appeared to be engrossed in reassembling the handle end of the rifle. Sighing, you set your boot and shoe brush down on the floor and turned to face him.

“I-, I wanted to...talk to you about something.” He still didn’t look up from his weapon, just nodded in response. “Why haven’t you asked me at all about Moska? I mean, you must know he wasn’t looking for you, that he was just lucky you were with me. I’m surprised you didn’t leave me on Batuu.”

If you hadn’t been watching him so intently, you might not have noticed how he, almost nervously, fumbled with the long end of the barrel as the words left your mouth.

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Your cheeks reddened. “I want to know what you know about me.”

He finished screwing together the two parts of the rifle and set it against the wall of the ship. Then he leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs. “I was looking for a copilot on Nevarro. Someone put in a good word for you, and you know the rest.”

You huffed in annoyance. Something was off and you knew it. “You’re lying. Tell me the truth. How do you know Moska?” 

He rose to his feet, looked at you a moment and then turned towards the ladder. Before your mind could catch up with your feet, you were starting towards him. You grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face you.

“Tell me the truth!” 

The words came out louder than you had meant them to, making the baby stir in his sleep. You were breathing hard, staring into the visor of that expressionless helmet. After what felt like an eternity, he looked down. Realizing you were still holding onto his arm, you quickly let go and took a step back.

Mando sighed, and then gestured for you to sit back down. You did, and he settled rather awkwardly across from you.

“Two months ago, I received a tracking beacon and a chain code from a… rather unreliable source. It led me to Nevarro, and I found you at the market. And - no offense - but the bounty on you didn’t exactly match what I saw when I watched you. I could tell you weren’t dangerous. So I looked into you. Found out you were one of Moska’s ‘children’. I’d never come in contact with him personally, but I’d turned in plenty of his men, and I knew what kind of business he ran. I knew he trained younglings as his mercenaries. I have had to hunt an innocent before, and I wasn’t going to treat you any differently,” at this, he nodded his head towards the sleeping baby. “So I followed you for about a week. I could see you were struggling, you couldn’t afford more than a meal a day. The man at the bar where I found you told me you were a pilot, so I decided to hire you and keep you safe, and oblivious to what I knew. I messed up by taking you to Batuu, and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

You were at a loss for words. All you could do was stare at him, mouth open. He was looking down at the floor. “I would like for you to stay here, but I understand if you want to leave.”

Finally pulling yourself together, you stood and made your way to where Mando was sitting, crouching in front of and taking hold of his hands with shaking fingers. 

“I had no idea. Thank you, Mando.” You raised his gloved hands to your face, kissing them softly, then letting them drop and standing again, turning toward the baby, your face hot.

As you were leaning over the cradle, making sure the kid was still asleep, you heard a soft mumble from behind you. You turned your head back to Mando. “What was that?”

“Din. My real name...it’s Din.”

You felt a strange sort of fluttering in your chest. Not even Peli knew his real name.

You smiled. “Well, thank you, Din.”

* * *

It had been several hours since you had landed on Eriadu and Din had left to collect the bounty. He said it would be an quick one; the guy was a known drunk and would most likely be in one of the cantinas. 

You had woken the baby up from his nap and given him a snack, and then let him play while you checked the entire ship for any system malfunctions until it was time for dinner. Then you had whipped up a quick dinner for you and the baby out of some dried meats and fresh fruit from the market on Tatooine, and then put him to bed.

Now you were laying in the bunk, the only light coming from the small bulb above your head. The rest of the hull was pitch black. You had changed into sweatpants and a tank top but were too nervous to rest, so you sat twiddling your thumbs like a child.

You had been mulling over the past two months and your feelings towards Din ever since he had shut the ramp behind him, and nothing you did was distracting enough. What he had admitted to you had only intensified your attraction to him. You knew now that he really did care about you, even if he showed it in strange ways, like bringing you cookies and then remaining completely silent for a whole three parsecs.

You had begun to zone out, so the sound of the ramp being lowered startled you. You heard heavy footsteps, followed by the sound of something being dragged, and sat up in bed to see what was going on, swinging your legs over the edge of the cot.

Din came back-first into the hull, hauling an unconscious, scruffy-looking human man up the ramp. You watched him pull the man all the way into the ship, then let him drop to the floor, punching the button to raise the hatch. He finally turned to see you staring at him with one eyebrow raised.

“He was like this when I found him,” he shrugged. You hummed in response and pulled your legs back up onto the bed, lying down on the pillow. You stared at the ceiling, listening to Mando place the bounty in the carbonite chamber, and then remove his beskar armor and put his weapons back in their locker. You heard him climb up to the cockpit, and then felt the jolt as the Razor Crest took off. Reaching above your head, you switched off the light and lay in the complete darkness.

After a few minutes, his boots clanked back down the ladder. You heard him approach, and remembered he could still see with the infrared vision built into his helmet. 

“We should all get some rest, and we’ll land on Nevarro in a few hours to collect the bounty.”

He started to walk back towards the ladder, and your body began to move on autopilot. You sat up and hopped down from the cot, bare feet on the cold metal ground. Din stopped next to the ladder and turned around. In the dim emergency light near the ground, you could only make out his boots facing you as you felt your way towards him. Your hands hit his chest and stopped.

Without thinking, your fingers slowly ran up his chest, his undershirt the only thing between you. They stopped at the bottom on his helmet. You paused, and then slowly started to lift it up. Before you could get more than a couple inches, you felt thick fingers close tightly around both of your wrists. You inhaled sharply, worrying you were crossing a line. Maybe you had read his kindness the wrong way.

“All the lights are off, I can’t see anything,” you whispered. He held your hands in place for a moment longer, then took a deep breath in, and let go. You continued to lift the heavy piece of metal, finally removing it and bending your knees to set it gently on the floor. You could hear his breath, unfiltered and shallow. You let your hands drop back to his chest, and felt his heartbeat hammering under his shirt, mirroring your own.

You breathed a long inhale, then blew it out through your mouth slowly. 

Before you could react, warm lips were pressed softly against your own. Caught by surprise by his assertiveness, you soon recovered, moving your mouth against his. You felt his hands snake around your waist, pulling you closer, so you reached up to cup the sides of his face, feeling warm skin and stubble. The thought that you had absolutely no idea what Din looked like flashed across your mind, but was pushed aside when he pulled away to rest his forehead against yours.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait.” You could hear the grin in his voice. The sound of his deep baritone, with no helmet distorting it, was music to your ears. You responded by kissing him again, this time letting the tip of your tongue run along his top lip. The noise he made when you moved your hands up to lightly tug on the hair at the back of his head sent butterflies to your stomach. You relaxed into him, pressing your body flush against him. The rest of the world had gone silent, and all you could feel was his hands around you and his lips on yours.

You pulled away and he immediately moved down, pressing soft kisses under your ear and down your neck. “Don’t worry, I’ve been wanting this for a while now,” you sighed, letting your head fall back as he dragged his lips down to your collarbone, sucking gently, but hard enough to leave a light mark. He moved back up and kissed you so sweetly you thought you might melt into a puddle on the floor.

Your physical exhaustion hit you all at once and your knees buckled slightly. 

“I’m not trying to kill the mood, but I’m so fucking tired,” you murmered into his mouth. He chuckled, dipping his head quickly to press feather light kisses along your jawline.

“Then let's go to bed.” He said it so simply, but those words made your insides do somersaults. He released his hold around your waist and grabbed your hand, leading you in the dark to the cot. He waited until you were situated under the blanket, and then shuffled in behind you, wrapping an arm around you and nuzzling into the side of your neck. You felt like you could die happy right then.

You fell asleep quickly, Din’s warm breath strangely pleasant on your neck, feeling more comfortable than you had in over a decade. A single thought lingered in the front of your mind.

This was it. You were home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heheheh ;) lmk if this is too "their tongues battled for dominance"-y idk what i'm doing. thx for all your kind words and for reading!! sexy times next ch


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